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For the Man Who Has Everything
"For the Man Who Has Everything" is the second episode of , and it was adapted from the story written by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Plot Batman and Wonder Woman have arrived at the Fortress of Solitude to pay their respects to Superman on his birthday. Upon arrival, they discover their Justice League teammate is standing in place, unaware of his surroundings, and under the spell of a mysterious and alien-looking organism. What they do not immediately realize is that the Last Son of Krypton has been subdued by the Black Mercy, an plant from a distant galaxy that renders its victims helpless and delusional in a dreamworld created from their heart's desires. Superman is now trapped in his mind in a most tantalizing prison: a Krypton that never exploded. While in his mind Kal-El is married to a Kryptonian woman named Loana and has a little boy named Van-El, in the real world, Superman is still incapacitated as Mongul appears before Batman and Wonder Woman to reveal the origins of the plant. With Superman trapped in a world he himself has created, Mogul presumes that conquering Earth will now be exceedingly simple. Batman tries futilely to buy time and gather clues about the plant, but Wonder Woman's rage cannot be contained. She engages Mongul, though it is apparent from the start that she is overmatched. Kal-El's journey of the mind takes him before his father, Jor-El, now a tired old man forever shamed by his premature warnings of Krypton's destruction. However Superman now sees the cracks in his false reality, and perhaps the words of his friend Batman, ringing in the real world, are starting to slip through to his subconscious. Batman pulls frantically at the Black Mercy in the real world as Kal-El, now realizing he is simply imagining his new life, tearfully says goodbye to a son who can never exist. The Mercy comes free, but immediately clamps onto the chest of Batman, who now slips into his own dreamworld--a world where Thomas Wayne retaliated and overpowered the gunman that killed him and his wife in reality. However, like Superman's dream, it turns sour when the gunman regained himself and shot Thomas. Superman tears after Mongul, and a brutally beaten Wonder Woman crawls to Batman's side to help snap him out of his dreamworld. Superman batters the would-be tyrant, even resorting to using his heat vision to burn Mongul's chest. However, before he can strike a decisive blow, Superman is distracted by the statues of his parents holding Krypton aloft, and in his moment of hesitation, Mongul gains the advantage. By now, Wonder Woman has helped Batman break free of the Mercy's illusion. Just before Mongul can slaughter Superman, the villain looks up to see Batman and Wonder Woman--and a familiar plant falling towards him. The plant strikes, freezing Mongul in place and putting him under the spell of the Black Mercy. As the heroes ponder just what it is that Mongul's heart and mind is causing him to experience, Batman comments: "Whatever it is, it's too good for him." Mongul looks beaten but seemingly satisfied, as cries of agony from dying people and sounds of war echo in his mind. Continuity * Batman references Superman's defeating and humiliating Mongul in season one episode, "War World." Background Information Trivia * The story is derived from the celebrated Alan Moore comic book story of the same name. With the author's permission, the JLU creative team made several key changes. * Unlike the DC Comics version, Robin is not present. The original story featured the Jason Todd Robin, who turned out to be the one who saved Superman from Mongul. * Here, Wonder Woman's ironic present is a new flower called the "Krypton," while Batman's gift ("What do you get for the man who has everything?") is simply a card with cash. The original story depicted Batman presenting the new breed of flower and Wonder Woman presenting Superman with a reproduction of the bottled city Kandor. * Kal-El's "wife" is 'Loana,' an obvious merger of Lois Lane and Lana Lang, with Lois's voice. * Many of the cues were taken verbatim from the original story, including Superman's vicious heat vision attack on Mongul and his subsequent curse: "Burn." * Likewise, Wonder Woman grabs a weapon and fires it at Mongul, just as she does in the comic story, only her curse "Go to hell!" had to be abbreviated for censorship reasons. This is one of four times this word has been cut off with a convenient, and often humors, sense of timing. (See also "A Knight of Shadows, Part I," "Twilight, Part I," and "The Balance") * The supercomputer Brainiac, which fled the destroyed Krypton, never had to leave Superman's imaginary home. In fact he's the friendly, helpful robot butler of every Kryptonian household! * The comics story had Kal-El's "dream" Krypton depicted in more detail, and featured a subplot of a rebellion against society involving Jor-El and cousin Kara. * DCAU viewers do not get to see Mongul's fantasy as it was depicted in the comics: he imagines killing Superman and all of the heroes, and ruling over Earth — creating a new Warworld. This is hinted at by the end of the episode, when the audience hears screams of pain and terror from inside Mongul's head. * This episode marks the first and only appearance by Joe Chill (who is ironically voiced by Kevin Conroy in the DCAU.) * The movie that is being shown as the Wayne family is leaving the movie theater is The Mark of Zorro. * Mongul's words are another example of villains' inability to understand Superman's altruism; Mongul speculates that the Black Mercy is showing Superman as ruler of the universe, believing that that is what would make Superman happiest; similarly, in "A Better World," the alternate-dimension Lex Luthor believes he understands Superman, saying that what he loves most about being a hero is the fame and adulation from the masses, not the satisfaction of doing good. * First appearance of Wonder Woman's invisible plane. Its origin was meant to be introduced through a feature film, Justice League: World's Collide, which would also depict the expansion of the League's membership, but the film was never produced. * Loana mentions the upcoming party of "Little Zod," a nod to the Kryptonian criminal General Zod who otherwise has never been alluded to in the DCAU. (Instead Jax-Ur and Mala filled a similar role.) Cast Uncredited Appearances *Krypto (dog) Quotes Category:Justice League Unlimited episodes